Reps of the various facets involved in the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl set for Dec. 23 at FAU Stadium "expressed confidence Monday that it will prove a success," according to Brian Biggane of the PALM BEACH POST. MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said, “Every one of our member teams is interested in coming. ... I remain extremely bullish on this event.” Biggane noted the game "received a boost in credibility with the announcement that the Orange Bowl Committee will provide assistance in operational and media relations assistance." ESPN Regional Television Senior VP & GM Pete Derzis said, "Our feeling is that once people come and see it, word of mouth will travel quickly that this is a bowl game you want to be in." Derzis also "praised the FAU Stadium, a 30,000-seat facility that opened in 2011 and is the only stadium in the country that offers a view of the Atlantic Ocean from the press box." Derzis: “If this wasn’t a first-class facility, there wouldn’t be a bowl game here" (PALM BEACH POST, 10/21). C-USA Commissioner Britton Banowksy said that the Boca Raton Bowl has all the "ingredients to be a success -- the warm weather of South Florida, FAU's campus hosting the event and ESPN broadcasting a competitive game between two college football teams." In Ft. Lauderdale, Nate Taylor noted perhaps the "biggest hurdle before the Boca Raton Bowl is whether ESPN, which owns and operates the game, will find a title sponsor." Derzis said that the net is "pursuing several companies that will agree to a multi-year deal" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 10/21).
